They're back. The latest single from Panic! at the Disco is here! Following "Victorious", "Death of a Bachelor", and "Emperor's New Clothes" this is arguably the best song of the bunch. All the hype for their new album is well deserved, as it's shaping up to be the best yet. Click this (link) to preorder the album on iTunes.
Panic! have been a little iffy in recent years, in regards to their style and sound. In 2011 we thought the band was going back to their original sound, abet with more mainstream influences. Then 2013 introduced us to a new electronic, synth laden Panic! But at long last, it seems Brendon and co have finally decided upon a sound. Somewhere in-between the electronic "Girls/Girls/Boys" and their signature baroque "I Write Sins...".
Their most recent songs have found a great balance between the band's usual brand of theatrics and their mainstream tastes. "LA Devotee" is driven with a quick drum beat, and a solid horn section. The bridge does get a bit dark, in a similar fashion to "Emperor's New Clothes", but the bass line so sublime. It flows back into the chorus, and from there on it's nothing but bouncy new wave. The upbeat atmosphere of the song recalls Paramore's "Anklebiters" to a certain extent, or even "Tell Me It's Okay". And puts Fall Out Boy's 2015 album to shame.
Before we go any further, we might as well address the elephant in the room. Yes the song has moments where it sounds a LOT like "Shake It Off". But before you go and start accusing Panic! of stealing Miss Swift's hook, try to remember artists reuse chord progressions all the time. Look at "Wonderwall" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", or any of blink-182's songs. Hell, the entire pop punk genre is like one long ass, power chord built song. So don't get too butthurt. Panic! has cranked out so many unique songs and memorable songs that this little oops (whether intentional or not) gets an okay from us. Besides, this song is way better than "Shake It Off".
Summary -
This is the same baroque pop Panic! introduced us to almost 10 years ago, but with some mainstream mixing. There's no stopping this fun poppy single. If the drum beat doesn't get you into a groove, we don't know what will. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. In fact the only reason we're docking points is because of the obvious similarities to "Shake It Off". And the similarities wouldn't be so sinful if "Shake It Off" hadn't been released last August.
Rating - 8.5/10